The Saints moved one step forward in their post-season battle with a 69-61 win against Eastern Florida State College Titans at the Florida College System Activities Association/National Junior College Athletic Association Region VIII Women's Basketball Tournament Wednesday night.  

The first three quarters showed both teams aggressively scoring back-and-forth, dueling for the lead. The hunger from both teams was evident and resulted in 12 tied scores and 16 lead changes. Fighting for advancement in the tournament, the Saints turned on the defensive pressure and had crucial scoring against the Titans that gave them separation with a 22-13 final quarter.

Saints head coach Chanda Stebbins stated, "I was proud of how we played despite missing a lot of shots. Our defense looked a little rough at times but then at critical times came up big. I think our versatile line up with Chardell (Jones) and Cam (Pringle) at the post really made a defensive difference tonight."

Rebounding and free throws were key for the team. In the second half, the Saints went to the stripe almost twice as much as the Titans and sank 18 of 24 attempts in the last two stanzas.

"Very proud of our guards fighting through tonight," Stebbins continued, "Steph (Jackson) made crucial free throws, Janasia (Law) hit a couple big shots and Danasia (Bogle) really got us off to a great start."

Jackson led all scorers with 24 points, including 12 free throws. Bogle added 16 points while Pringle had 13.

The Saints now face a second round FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII match-up against Northwest Florida State College in Ocala Friday afternoon. Stebbins added, "We now have a day to prepare for a team that has been number one in the nation off and on through out the year. Nothing is easy in Region VIII."

Tournament games will be streamed live at http://cfpatriots.net/sports/fcsaatournament/index with single session tickets available at $10 per session, $6 for students, and complete tournament tickets at $25, $15 for students.

For all SF Athletics schedules, stats and more visit santafesaints.com.